The race was due to open the F1 season in March but was called off because of civil unrest in Bahrainwith dozens of protesters being killed by security forces.

Ecclestone told the BBC “Hopefully we can return in the future, but of course it’s not on. The schedule cannot be rescheduled without the agreement of the participants – they’re the facts.”

The F1 teams wrote to the FIA on Tuesday expressing their objections to Bahrain being put back on the calendar.

The decision to reinstate Bahrain was taken at a meeting of the FIA World Council on Friday, where the vote was passed without any objections.

But it seems the FIA had overlooked article 66 of its own sporting code, which says that no amendments can be made to the arrangements for a championship after entries open without the agreement of all competitors.

Max Mosley condemned the decision to reschedule the Bahrain race
Technically speaking, the vote remains valid, and in theory the FIA should have another vote to cancel it.

In reality, though, because the FIA did not follow its own rules, the teams can simply ignore it, as the vote cannot take effect without their agreement.

That means that, because the teams have formally objected to the reinstatement to the Bahrain race, it cannot now take place this year, so the event will not happen, regardless of what actions the FIA now takes.